Wednesday, 6 April 2016

One of my recent birthday presents was a Spiralizer. Although it was totally unexpected in that I hadn't actually asked for one, I think my family had had enough of me saying 'I must get one of those' and decided to end the monotony of the statement.

Actually it was Miss GF that insisted on buying it....... She wasn't however thinking of me when she chose the model, instead only considering the pictures on the side of the box and telling Mr GF that we needed one 'which would make spiral potato chips'..... Marketing departments take note!

Either way, I am very happy with my gift...... I have indeed wanted a spiralizer for a good couple of years, and am looking forward to making all sorts of new dishes with it.

As for spiral potato chips? Miss GF will just have to wait...... I am feeling particularly in need of some fresher veggie options at the moment. I desperately need to lose a few pounds and am hoping that my new toy will be just the motivation I need to choose some green and lean alternatives to the excess of carbs.

This is my very first spiralized meal...... Oriental Courgette-Noodle Soup, made with homemade Vegetable Broth...... Fresh, flavoursome, healthy and delicious.

It was originally just going to be a straight spiralized courgette soup, but when I popped into my local greengrocers at the weekend, I was drawn to and persuaded to buy some perfumed Krachai root..... a popular Thai ingredient which is apparently a relative of the ginger family and tastes similar, if a little less stringent. The root looks like a bunch of fingers joined together at the end by a nobbly rhizome, but tastes amazing, being most commonly added I understand, to seafood dishes. If you can't get hold of any, don't worry.... ginger will suffice.

Back in the greengrocers and root in hand, my soup began to take a different and more interesting direction....... In my mind I was transported to warmer climes, heading South and East equatorially-bound to the flavours and aromas of the Orient.....

Looking along the shelves of colourful fruit, veg, herbs and spices in the greengrocers I picked up a mix of alternative ingredients fused between local and exotic..... a handful of rich and chewy shiitake mushrooms, a lovely fresh bunch of pungent wild garlic, a couple of small and powerful Bird's Eye chillies, and a large bunch of crunchy spring onions...... All bagged up I set off home, ready to concoct and create...

The base to this soup is an amazing home-made vegetable broth made with fresh vegetables and herbs, roasted for extra depth and intensity of flavour and then slow-cooked in liquid over a good couple of hours to allow the whole lot to mingle and infuse.

The advantage with splitting the clear broth from the vegetables once they have all been cooked up, is that you get double the meals..... two soups in one! The clear, sieved broth is used for the oriental noodle soup and then the remaining veg is liquidised with a little extra liquid to produce a thick, warming earthy vegetable soup.

You can use any veg for the broth..... whatever takes your fancy (or is lying around in your larder), but if you want a clearer soup I would avoid potato or anything that is too starchy.

If you need to eat gluten free, make sure you use gluten free Shoyu instead of standard soy sauce..... Definitely a must in any gluten free larder!

Although this is essentially a vegan dish, if you don't choose to be veggie, then you may wish to add a sprinkle of Bonito flakes (dried shaved tuna flakes) when you serve. I first had these when I visited Japan many many years ago, but I love the savoury slightly fishy hint they give to some soups and tofu dishes. They are pretty difficult to source, but I recently managed to find some in a town nearby in an oriental supermarket and decided to throw some on the soup as an after-thought at the table. They are not by any means necessary however, so don't go hunting for them!

Anyway..... this soup is amazing.... the spiralized courgettes are as tasty as they are fun..... they pair brilliantly with the less local ingredients and give the broth extra substance and interest. The cleansing ginger is just what the Spring palate needs and the warming chilli hit will wake the tastebuds after their winter slumber. Fresh and exciting, this is a soup for the season....

I am sharing my first delicious spiralized efforts with a whole bunch of linkies for April :

Cook Once Eat Twice with Searching for Spice. The slow-cooked vegetables are used to make both the vegetable broth for this soup and also a liquidised vegetable soup.

Slow Cooked Challenge with Baking Queen 74 and Farmersgirl Kitchen. April's challenge is based around Spring Ingredients. This soup has a slow-cooked vegetable broth at its heart and is full of veg, including seasonal spring onions, broccoli, leek, carrots, celery and herbs, including local wild garlic.

Method

Peel, trim and rough-chop all the vegetables and place in a large roasting tin with a good drizzle of olive oil.

Add the herbs.

Toss the vegetables in the oil to coat and then add the black pepper and salt. Toss again.

Roast in the oven for about an hour, stirring occasionally to prevent the edges burning.

When cooked, remove from the oven and place all the roasted veg in a slow cooker (or very large saucepan). Add an extra good grind of salt.

Add enough water to cover the vegetables by about 4 to 5 cm (1½ to 2 inches).

Slow-cook on maximum for about 3 hours (or slight simmer on the hob for about 2 to 3 hours).

When cooked, allow to cool.

Use a sieve to drain and separate the liquid (vegetable stock) into a large jug/soup storage container and set aside. Save the vegetables into a separate storage container (topped up with a little water) to liquidise later and make vegetable soup.

Additional Ingredients - for the Oriental Courgette-Noodle Soup

2 large/3 medium courgettes

3 to 4 Krachai finger-roots or a small piece of ginger (peeled and cut into slivers)

This looks so colourful and fresh I'm desperate to eat it now! I have a much-underused spiraliser in the cupboard so pinning this to encourage me to dust it off and cook this. Thanks for linking up to #CookBlogShare

What lovely flavours and bright vibrant colours! Your courgette noodle soup looks great and is inspiring me to go to the local Thai supermarket and get some interesting ingredients. Thanks for joining in with #SlowCookedChallenge!

I love the fact that you can separate the liquids to make 2 soups. The flavours in this sound amazing and it looks so beautiful too. I have a spiralizer too although I don't use it nearly as often as I should. I have to say though in support of Miss GF, I did make some amazing sweet potato curly fries using it!

Absolutely Corina! For a relatively small basket of veg, we seem to have been eating for days!I will definitely get round to trying curly fries (I don't think Miss GF would have it any other way....). Although the spiralling bit sounds fine though, but I'm not sure I can be bothered with the deep-fry element of the process!

Thanks Angela. Fennel is a favourite of mine too! Mr GF has been less sure about fennel in the past, but I think this dish showed him how wonderful it could be! And the soup is absolutely perfect for a low-carb diet! x

Oh I do love the sound of this - such a great way of using those lovely spiralized courgettes. I am feeling very behind the times - I still don't own a spiralizer :-( Maybe if I drop enough hints to my family...and maybe mention those spiral potato chips... ;-) Eb x

The spiralized courgettes were amazing. I don't know why I hadn't invested in a spiralizer before. You must throw out lots of hints and persuade your kids (out of earshot of your husband) that they would really love to help you make very interesting veg..... Then get them to do all the nag work. Should have one of your own in no time! x

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I'm Kate, author of the Gluten Free Alchemist blog.

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